(70) Panopaea
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	21 Feb 2026	13.0	2.525 AU	2.231 AU	15h40m	-16°13'	95.5°	23.0°
Opposition	16 May 2026	10.9	2.361 AU	1.351 AU	15h29m	-21°46'	177.2°	1.2°

The interactive orbit chart above shows the body's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)

The orbital elements of Panopaea are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.1830438
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.6135226
            i (Inclination)                 : 11.59683
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 47.63786
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 255.44755
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 269.56600
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 122.79541
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -11.21987
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.23            
        

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the minor planet's magnitude.

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the minor planet over the same period as the light curve. The current position is marked yellow.

The following chart shows the path of the minor planet in the next few days. The field of view is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-02-21 00:00 UT   15 40 00.3   -16 13 32     2.231    2.525   95.5   23.0   283   13.0 
2026-02-21 01:58 UT   15 40 04.8   -16 13 57     2.229    2.524   95.5   23.0   283   13.0 
2026-02-22 00:00 UT   15 40 54.5   -16 18 45     2.216    2.523   96.2   22.9   283   13.0 
2026-02-23 00:00 UT   15 41 47.6   -16 23 55     2.201    2.521   97.0   22.9   283   13.0 
2026-02-24 00:00 UT   15 42 39.7   -16 29 03     2.186    2.519   97.8   22.9   283   13.0 
2026-02-25 00:00 UT   15 43 30.8   -16 34 09     2.171    2.517   98.6   22.9   282   12.9 
2026-02-26 00:00 UT   15 44 20.7   -16 39 12     2.156    2.515   99.4   22.9   282   12.9 
2026-02-27 00:00 UT   15 45 09.6   -16 44 13     2.141    2.513  100.2   22.8   282   12.9 
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   15 45 57.4   -16 49 12     2.126    2.511  101.0   22.8   282   12.9 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   15 46 44.1   -16 54 09     2.111    2.509  101.8   22.7   282   12.9 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   15 47 29.6   -16 59 04     2.097    2.507  102.6   22.7   282   12.9 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   15 48 13.9   -17 03 56     2.082    2.505  103.4   22.6   282   12.8 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   15 48 57.0   -17 08 47     2.067    2.503  104.2   22.6   282   12.8 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   15 49 39.0   -17 13 36     2.053    2.501  105.0   22.5   282   12.8 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   15 50 19.6   -17 18 22     2.038    2.499  105.9   22.4   282   12.8 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   15 50 59.1   -17 23 07     2.024    2.497  106.7   22.4   281   12.8 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   15 51 37.2   -17 27 50     2.009    2.495  107.5   22.3   281   12.7 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   15 52 14.0   -17 32 31     1.995    2.493  108.4   22.2   281   12.7 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   15 52 49.4   -17 37 10     1.981    2.491  109.2   22.1   281   12.7 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   15 53 23.5   -17 41 48     1.967    2.489  110.1   22.0   281   12.7 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   15 53 56.2   -17 46 23     1.953    2.487  110.9   21.9   281   12.7 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   15 54 27.5   -17 50 57     1.939    2.485  111.8   21.8   281   12.6 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   15 54 57.4   -17 55 29     1.925    2.483  112.6   21.7   281   12.6 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   15 55 25.8   -18 00 00     1.911    2.481  113.5   21.6   281   12.6 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   15 55 52.6   -18 04 29     1.897    2.479  114.4   21.4   281   12.6 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   15 56 18.0   -18 08 57     1.883    2.477  115.3   21.3   281   12.6 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   15 56 41.8   -18 13 22     1.869    2.475  116.2   21.2   281   12.5 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   15 57 04.1   -18 17 47     1.856    2.473  117.1   21.0   281   12.5 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   15 57 24.7   -18 22 10     1.843    2.471  118.0   20.8   281   12.5 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   15 57 43.8   -18 26 31     1.829    2.469  118.9   20.7   281   12.5 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   15 58 01.2   -18 30 52     1.816    2.467  119.8   20.5   281   12.4 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   15 58 17.0   -18 35 10     1.803    2.465  120.7   20.3   281   12.4 

    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between minor planet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between minor planet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-minor planet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-minor planet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km
    

Orbital elements provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.